We must not add even more problems to those of Minister of Labor Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi. He is doing his best to reduce unemployment, find jobs for Saudis and stop the flood of foreign workers into the country. There is, however, a point that I want to have clarified.
The internal transfer of visas has been stopped; I am referring to occupations such as drivers and maids for both of which there has been an increase in demand. How can we solve this problem? By stopping internal transfers, all families needing a driver or a maid must go to recruitment offices and bring a foreigner into the country. I cannot understand this decision; the main purpose is to stop the buying and selling of visas but it also leaves the door open for foreign recruitment.
This is a contradiction and seems to indicate that there was not proper planning and that once again, the citizen is the victim. I do not doubt the aims of the minister of labor but I do not understand why he has been so late in approving the establishment of home employment companies and maintenance companies for providing a needed workforce. What is this old system that we are still burdened with? It makes a citizen responsible for anyone he brings into the country though if his children are over 18, he is not responsible for them and cannot be held accountable for their wrongdoings. Why do we restrain citizens with responsibilities and leave big companies and institutions free without responsibilities? Not only that, a decision has been made to prevent visa transfers and force citizens to go to recruitment offices and pay if they want to recruit workers.
We ask the minister who is well aware of the problems of unemployment, illegal overstayers and illegal workforce to stop the sale of visas that damages the country’s economy and increases the crime rate. Saudi families need drivers to take children to school and women to work. There are half a million male and female teachers in this country and many need a driver. There are also five million students here and many of them need a driver. If a company were established to be responsible for recruiting drivers for a month or a year and if the company were responsible for the drivers’ insurance, sponsorship and medical insurance for an amount of money paid to the company, then security would be maintained and families would save money — especially if the maid or driver ran away.
This idea, dear minister, would protect Saudi citizens from mistakes they have been held responsible for — for no reason. We need the minister to liberate families from these responsibilities. This is why, dear minister, I say that I sponsor nobody.
